Love Lives of the Golden Age

It's true, as I've mentioned elsewhere, that the Golden Age heroes spent a lot less time anguishing about their various problems than their Silver Age counterparts did. Part of this is due to simple lack of time--the stories were typically very compressed, and when you're trying to fit a whole plot into a handful of pages you're not going to include much pining.

Part had to do, I expect, with Hollywood themes being mirrored by the comics--the strong, silent hero, capable of almost anything but clumsy and tongue-tied around women. Think Jimmy Stewart. Think Gary Cooper. It was a way of humanizing the main character by giving him a flaw that had no effect on his heroism.

Part may have had to do with the perceived audience for comic books--young boys who would have found romantic scenes icky in the extreme. But during WWII comics were also fairly popular among soldiers overseas, so that can't be the sole reason.

My favorite Golden Age "relationship" is that between Captain America (and his alter ego Steve Rogers) and federal agent Betty Ross. Not to be confused with Silver Age Hulk love interest Betty Ross. I imagine that Bruce's Betty's existence is the reason Cap's Betty never reappeared--even in the pages of The Invaders, where Namor's Betty did make a guest appearance. I'm guessing that Betty was a very popular name in the 40s?

While Steve might give some thought to making a move on Betty (although thinking it isn't quite the same as doing it), Captain America was having none of it. In fact, he did his best to avoid any contact with Betty at all that didn't involve rescuing her.

Like this:



And like this:



Steve out of mask was more willing to give Betty the time of day, but (in typical Golden and Silver Age style) she wasn't interested.



I suppose it's understandable, given Betty's reaction to his less colorful self, that Cap was less than receptive to her advances when in costume. However, it doesn't seem to have been a rational decision--indeed, when she does manage to get her hands on him, he's pretty rattled:





Some other time. Heh. Right. It's a good thing for the women of the Silver Age and later that Cap eventually got over that shyness.